The course › Unit 11: Accompanying a song
Lesson 63 of 72 · Root, fifth, octave: the bass that carries the song
In a band, the bass almost always plays the root of the chord, on the first beat: it’s what tells your ear “here’s the chord.” When you accompany a singer on your own, your left hand is the bass player.
For a slash chord (C/E), the bass plays the note after the slash. For all the others, it plays just the letter: G → G, Am → A, F♯m → F♯.
Four ways to play a C bass: the root alone, root and fifth, the octave, then 1-5-8.
Watch out: A low bass, yes; low chords, no. At the very bottom of the keyboard, three close notes sound like mush: keep the chords in the middle of the keyboard, and give the left hand single notes, fifths and octaves.
Left hand: first the root and the fifth (little finger, then thumb), then held octaves (5 and 1 together). C – G – Am – F: your arm carries your hand as one block, and the shape doesn’t change.
Left hand: little finger (5) on the root, thumb (1) on the fifth or the octave, together. Any octave on this keyboard.
To link two chords, the bass can walk: on the last beat of the measure, it plays a neighboring note of the next bass note (a whole step or a half step away). This passing note pulls your ear toward the new chord.
Under C – Am – F – G, the bass walks down C, B, A, G, F… then bounces back: A, G, and finally B, which leads straight to C. All these notes fit in a single position: little finger on F, thumb on C.
A dotted half note on the root, then a quarter-note passing note toward the next bass note.
Why this way: You learn bass patterns one at a time, first alone, then under chords: one move at a time, repeated until it becomes automatic. Once your left hand plays “by itself,” your attention is free for the right hand… and for listening to the singer.
Left hand alone, without moving your hand: little finger on F, thumb on C. Hold each dotted half note for its full length, then slide to the next bass note.
The chords of the verse of Let It Be, one per measure: your left hand is what moves the song forward. Left hand: root, fifth, octave, fifth, in quarter notes (fingers 5-2-1-2). The computer plays the chords above.
Both hands together: the chords on top, the walking bass underneath. That’s a complete accompaniment! Right hand: the chords in half notes, around middle C. Left hand: the walking bass, without changing position. In the next-to-last measure: F, then G and B to get back to C.
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